Cycling in Headington
The best way of travelling from Headington to Oxford is by bicycle. The quickest and most obvious way is to go straight down Headington Hill, but this is not a very pleasant or safe route, and alternatives are suggested below. For those that can't manage the gradient on the way back up, Morrell Avenue is much more manageable.
Left: Always lock your bike in Headington, but not just by its front wheel
Cycle track through the University Parks
This is a longer but much more pleasant alternative route from Headington to Oxford, finishing up in South Parks Road. This track starts at the bottom of Ferry Road (off the Marston Road), and there are various ways of getting there, depending on your starting point in Headington. Here are three suggested routes:
- From Old Headington: go via Dunstan Road, Saxon Way, and Copse Lane;
- From Sandfield Road: go via Staunton Road, which crosses the Marston Ferry Road and leads straight into the east-west stretch of Jack Straw’s Lane that emerges into the Marston Road (see map).
- From the Headington Road: Cuckoo Lane is a footpath and very narrow behind Headington Hill Hall, so should be avoided; but there is a lane beside Pollock House that leads into John Garne Way.
To Summertown
The best way to reach Summertown is via Headley Way. Once it becomes Cherwell Drive, there is cycle track all the way.
Further afield
From the Green Road roundabout, there is two-way cycle track in three directions:
- Along the eastern bypass towards Cowley
Best accessed from Headington Quarry - Along
the northern bypass towards the north Oxford roundabout
Best accessed either from the end of Barton Road or from Marsh Lane. (If you don't mind pushing your bike a short distance along a quiet and sometimes muddy footpath, the prettiest way to the northern bypass is from Stoke Place in Old Headington, via the public right of way to Elsfield.) Unless you have powerful lights, avoid this route at night: it is extremely dark. - Along the London
Road towards Wheatley
Accessed from the Green Road roundabout – but don't attempt to cycle around the roundabout: wheel your bike through the subway
And if you are getting the bus to London, note that the Oxford Tube has room to carry two bikes free of charge, while the Oxford Espress charges £2 per bike.
Local cycling links
- Oxcycle: Oxfordshire’s Bicycle Users Group’s website
- Cyclox: Oxford pro-cycling campaign
- University Parks cycle track flooding: This give information on the current state of the track. Note that if there are no recent messages, everything is probably perfectly all right: there is usually only a problem at the beginning of the year
- Oxfordshire County Council cycling section: Includes Oxfordshire Cycleway and Oxford cycle maps and list of local cycle shops
Repairs
There is no cycle repair shop in Headington now that G.H. Williams has closed, although Bob Williams is still doing repairs from home: tel. 01865 762664 or mobile 07962 896663
There is a mobile cycle repair service based in Oxford called Back on Trax: they will come to you to do the repair.
Bike Doctor is run by the Oxford Cycle Workshop (01865 204799). This provides a while-you-wait cycle repair service for all, and operates in Headington on a Tuesday:
- Headington: at Oxford Brookes University in Gipsy Lane on Tuesdays from 10am to 4pm (labour charges free to Brookes staff and students)
- Oxford: in the University Science Area, South Parks Road on Wednesdays from 10am to 4pm (labour charges free to University of Oxford staff)
Bike Doctor closes during part of the university vacations: telephone the above number to check dates
Notes
- The county council is responsible for the maintenance of all cycle lanes that are painted green. Theare are only found on major roads such as the Headington/London Road. Problems: email Ashley Prior
- The city council is responsible for the maintenance of all uncoloured cycle lanes on minor roads, as well as dedicated cycle tracks. Problems: email A. Burchett
- The city council is responsible for the cleaning of all cycle lanes: telephone their Cleansing Service Division, 01865 725912
- Both types of cycle lane can be either mandatory (solid white line) or discretionary (broken white line). Beware of the latter, as not all of them have double-yellow lines, so that parking is often allowed in them at night (e.g. in Kennett Road). Even when discretionary cycle-lanes do have double-yellow lines, cars and buses are allowed to drive in them.
Plans for more Headington cycle routes
Section TR.5 of the draft Local Plan states that the City Council will seek to secure the following new cycle routes in Headington:
- Saxon Way to the John Radcliffe Hospital
- Gardiner Street to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
- Peat Moors to the Churchill Hospital
- New or improved linkage towards the City Centre from Barton [via Barton Lane, St Andrew’s Road, Osler Road, Cuckoo Lane as far as Pullen’s Lane] ... and Risinghurst [via Downs Road, Kiln Lane, Beaumont Road, Quarry Hollow, and Margaret Road].
Pavement cycle track will be put in soon running westwards from the Green Road roundabout, but this is the usual unsatisfactory stopping and starting track that weaves everywhere and annoys everyone.
Below
Two rare but picturesque perils of the cycle track through the Parks:
